The city committee is comprised of local business people and representatives of the council. Its approach of streamlining city government has led to savings in excess of $1 million annually since its inception in 2002, officials said.

The committee's ideaswill be presented next week to the 4B Board - which oversees sales tax revenue intended specifically for the facility.

"I think cooperatively we can do some real good at reducing some spending and increasing our revenues," said Councilman Scott Dufford, committee founder.

The committee discussed ideas such as:

- Saving $170,000 annually by working with the city attorney to see how feasible it is to use 4B tax monies to pay off the scoreboards at the complex, which is expected to be paid off in 2012.

- Adding more than $80,000 in revenue by the city's partnership with the RockHounds, for added suite sales.

- Taking into account the council saved $130,000 annually by its recent move to paying off a $2.7 million deficit using general fund reserves.

Other solutions include looking at city contracts for the stadium where they may be able to save on items.

Monty Hoppel, RockHounds general manager and committee member, suggested opening up more area for signage.

Since demand for advertising recently has increased, there currently is one open space left, he said.

"I know there were past concerns about being too commercial," Hoppel said. "But it may be something worth considering again."

Representatives from the 4B Board and members of the city staff also were present at the meeting.

Additional ideas generated by next week's 4B Board will be brought back to managed competition in the future.

"I think that the ideas thrown out there today seem viable," said Mark Phillips, of the finance department. Phillips has participated in the committee since its first meeting. "Given our track record, I really think we can make an impact here."

Past savings brought on by managed competition

Since the managed competition committee began in 2002, its results include:

- $495,000: Savings from the utilities department after committee recommendations. They included coming up with a business plan for the department and comparing its efficiency with comparable cities. It led to eliminating 14 positions by attrition.

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- $1 million: Approximate annual loss recovered for ambulance services. Committee suggested partnering with hospitals to collect delinquent ambulance fees since the city was restricted from doing so itself.